{"id":87045,"date":"2019-04-07T15:41:27","date_gmt":"2019-04-07T22:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=87045"},"modified":"2019-04-07T15:41:27","modified_gmt":"2019-04-07T22:41:27","slug":"tripitakabhivandana-celebration-in-geneva-highlights-tripitaka-as-a-shared-global-intellectual-treasure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/04\/07\/tripitakabhivandana-celebration-in-geneva-highlights-tripitaka-as-a-shared-global-intellectual-treasure\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Tripitakabhivandana’ celebration in Geneva highlights ‘Tripitaka’ as a shared global intellectual treasure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Geneva<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

An interactive scholarly discussion on the significance of the Tripitaka as a world heritage took place at the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) headquarters in Geneva, continuing the week-long celebrations-‘Tripitakabivandana<\/em>‘. The event was also intended to raise awareness among States that follow the Buddhist traditions, as well as other States, to join hands with\u00a0Sri Lanka in realising<\/g> the initiative taken by President Maithripala Sirisena,\u00a0to inscribe the Tripitaka on the UNESCO \u2018Memory of the World\u2019 Register.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organized\nby the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka in Geneva, the event brought together\nseveral erudite members of the Maha Sangha, members of the diplomatic\ncommunity as well as Sri Lankans living in Geneva, to reflect on the\nspiritual, historical as well as global value of the Tripitaka-the foremost\ndoctrine of Buddhist teaching. A strong call for the recognition of the\nTripitaka as a shared heritage of mankind was echoed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\nscholarly presentation on the topic Why the Pali Tripitaka Should Be a World\nHeritage?: Sri Lanka’s Contributions to the Buddha vacana\u201d was delivered by\nVenerable Deegalle Mahinda Thera, Professor in Study of Religions, Philosophies\nand Ethics, College of Liberal Arts of the University of Bath Spa in the United\nKingdom. The eminent scholar monk eloquently elaborated on a number of landmark\nevents and key personalities involved in preserving this intrinsic body of\nDhamma through centuries.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ven.\nWalpola Kalyanatissa Thera, Spiritual Advisor to the Geneva Buddhist Vihara and\nthe Zurich Buddhist Vihara, and Ven. Halyale Wimalarathana Thera, the President\nof the International Buddhist Foundation in Geneva and the Chief Incumbent of\nthe Geneva Buddhist Vihara, addressed the audience on the value of the Buddhist\ndoctrine and the significance of the Tripitaka, while Ven. Dr. Thawalama\nDhammika Thera, Chief Sanghanayake of Switzerland and Chief Incumbent of the\nGeneva International Buddhist Centre, moderated the discussion with the\nparticipants and speakers. Ven. Keembiela Kassapa thera, the Chief\nIncumbent of the Toronto Buddhist Vihara also participated in the\nevent. The intellectual contributions made by the members of the Maha\nSangha and the interactive dialogue that ensued with Ambassadors and diplomatic\nrepresentatives of several countries sharing their views and perspectives\nenabled an incisive and insightful dhamma discourse,  appreciated by all\nparticipants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among\nHeads of Missions and senior diplomats who graced the event were Ambassadors of\nMyanmar, Bhutan, Thailand, Laos, Viet Nam, Mongolia, the United Kingdom,\nIndia, and Pakistan and the Representative of Nepal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing\nthe event, Sri Lanka\u2019s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador\nA.L.A. Azeez underscored the significance of the Tripitaka as the foremost\ncompilation of Buddhist philosophy and as a repository of spiritual knowledge\nthat is close to the hearts and minds of Sri Lankans as well as millions of\npeople over the world. He made these remarks underlining the need for\ncollaboration among all Member States in recognizing it as a world heritage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\nmillennia, the Tripitaka has been a shared heritage of the Asian communities,\nand over the years, there is growing worldwide interest in the study of\nBuddhism, most notably in Europe, North America and Australia. This is because\nthere is increasing recognition that Buddhism, in essence, is a way of life and\na philosophy that could be easily related to and practiced by anyone\nanywhere\u201d,  he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delivering\nconcluding remarks and vote of thanks, Deputy Permanent Representative of Sri\nLanka, Samantha Jayasuriya elaborated on the strong inter-linkages existing\nbetween the fundamental values of Buddhism such as equality and loving kindness\nfor all living beings, and the modern day discourses on protection and\npromotion of human rights and non-discrimination, gender equality, for\nwhich Geneva serves as the global center. She stressed that the teachings of\nLord Buddha, which the Tripitaka reflects with authenticity, enshrined at its\ncore, the values of equality and non-discrimination, that underpin human rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nevent commenced with the lighting of the traditional oil lamp by the members of\nthe diplomatic corps and the screening of a documentary depicting the\nhistorical events pertaining to the Tripitaka, its declaration as a national\nheritage on 5 January 2019 and the importance of formally recognizing it as a\nworld heritage. It concluded on a spiritual note, with the venerable monks\nchanting ‘seth pirith’ <\/em>and participants were treated to Sri Lankan\nrefreshments arranged by the Mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Permanent\nMission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geneva<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Geneva An interactive scholarly discussion on the significance of the Tripitaka as a world heritage took place at the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) headquarters in Geneva, continuing the week-long celebrations-‘Tripitakabivandana‘. The event was also intended to raise awareness among States that follow the Buddhist traditions, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddhism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87045\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}